Essay About Greek Heroes And Epic Tale Of War

The Iliad and Greek Heroes
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The Iliad is an epic tale of war and heros within the Greek way of life. A
predominant and consistent theme of honor and glory reside throughout the poem. The
motivation for any Homeric Greek is glory, or “Kleos”, that is to be honored and
respected among their people. Emphasis is put on living by the heroic code. Honor is
essential to the Greeks and life would not be worth living without it. When a warrior or
hero is advised to avoid risking their life in battle it almost drives them even further
towards the deed. It is better to be killed in action rather than to live and be thought a
coward. By our rational standards one would certainly not be thought a coward if they
didnt rush into battle to almost certain death, the Greeks however, live by a different set
of rules, a different set of standards and a different set of goals. The objective of attaining
Kleos was the centerpiece of life. Kleos could only be attained beating your opponent,
it could not be won if its offered voluntarily or as a dowry . On the flip side of the
pursuit of glory and respect, is the avoidance of shame and humility for not taking part in
war or not risking your life. To be shamed in life is far, far worse than to be killed in
battle.
A Homeric warrior would be greatly shamed if he were to turn his back on a
battle or confrontation even if he is certain that if he fights, he will die. To you and I, this
seems ridiculous and outright offensive to common sense and logic but such thoughts
didnt exist in those days, it was all about glory, it was all about respect. If you ran from
battle you might as well keep running because you will be looked upon as a failure, as a
scab, as an embarrassment to the native land and your family. You could be disowned,
you could be exiled, or you can even be killed. Its unfortunate in fact that such high
standards were placed of the heros in this poem. Many great men perished during the
Trojan war because it was not in their wishes to conceive defeat and fall back, they had to
fight to the death, it was the only way. The hero often finds himself in “kill or be killed”
situations where they are fighting their opponents will and desire for glory and their
loathing and unacceptability of shame. When a battle took place, it was one on one. One
hero vs. another, one man and his resume of victories vs. anothers. This is how the
Homeric Greeks kept tallies. To the victor went the spoils, thus they kept their
adversaries armor from the battle